The government has waived broadcasting licence fees for the current financial year, saving TV and radio broadcasters about $127 million.
The one-off gesture comes as Australia's third TV network, Ten, battles to slash debts after it was placed into voluntary administration.
Media reforms, currently before the senate, plan to permanently abolish TV licence fees and replace them with a tax on spectrum usage that would save broadcasters about $80 million each year.
The reforms package hit a senate roadblock in the most recent Parliament sitting as communications minister Mitch Fifield failed to get enough crossbench support for the package to pass.
Fifield used the relief announcement to take a swipe at Labor's opposition to cross-media ownership reform.
“Labor’s political gamesmanship in the Senate means the media industry is forced to wait another 40 days until Parliament returns to consider media reform legislation,” he said.
“Permanent financial relief will be provided through the Government’s Media Reform package, which has the unanimous support of the industry, if passed by the Senate as a whole.
“Last week, Labor twice voted in the House of Representatives against the entire package, despite claiming they support elements of it.
“Unlike Labor, all other groupings in the Senate have been engaging in constructive discussions with the government which continue.”
Opposition to cross-media ownership rules were criticised by Foxtel boss Peter Tonagh last week.
He told AdNews concerns of media concentration are a “gross misunderstanding” and that the outdated laws, which were written before the Internet era, are redundant.
Tonagh's point of view is illustrated by the fact that the part-owner of Foxtel, News Corp, already has significant interests in four types of media.
News Corp owns newspapers, digital media, pay TV and Lachlan Murdoch's investment arm, Illyria Nominees Television, owns radio network Nova. All of News Corp's assets operate in every major Australian market, making the two-out-of-three rule irrelevant.
It's a point that Harold Mitchell, the chair of FreeTV Australia, reiterated today.
“Licence fee relief is critical for broadcasters to invest and transform their businesses. It is now up to the Senate to do its part in permanently replacing the licence fee with a spectrum charge,” Mitchell said.
“In the internet age, it makes no sense to continue to impose the world’s highest licence fees when these foreign media tech companies pay nothing.
“If we are serious about diversity of Australian voices, we have got to get serious about comprehensive media reform. We cannot allow local media companies to continue being strangled by out-dated media ownership laws.”
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